2024 rewind: Favorites, scandals dominate year in sports betting

It was a chaotic year in the sports world, and much of the craziness surrounding betting. Here, we look back at the storylines, scandals, upsets, bad beats, and insights that shaped 2024. Plus, we peek ahead to what's in store for 2025.

Jump to a section here:

• Preseason favorites dominate
• Betting scandals
• Biggest upsets
• Worst beats
• Most bet events/teams
• Looking to 2025

Preseason favorites strike gold

In betting circles, 2024 will be recognized as the year of the chalk, as preseason favorites won unprecedentedly across major sports. A year this prosperous for preseason favorites hadn't occurred in decades and likely won't be replicated for years.

So, if your friends or fellow bettors clowned you for choosing chalk, you can have the last laugh by flashing your winning tickets as the calendar flips to 2025.

The Chiefs (+600), Celtics (+450), and Dodgers (+320) became world champions in 2024 after entering the season as preseason favorites or co-favorites on theScore Bet/ESPN Bet.

The monster year for favorites didn't stop with the four major professional sports leagues. Golfer Scottie Scheffler entered the Masters Tournament as a +475 favorite, the biggest favorite since Tiger Woods in 2013. Scheffler, of course, captured the green jacket at the Masters, the year's most bet non-NFL event.

UConn's men's basketball program joined the Chiefs as the only repeat champions. The Huskies had the sixth-best preseason odds to cut down the nets again but were the favorites entering March Madness at +325.

The WNBA's New York Liberty (+130), who won the 2024 Finals, slightly trailed the Las Vegas Aces (+120) on the preseason oddsboard.

As for other highly followed events, Michigan football had the fourth-best preseason odds (+900) to win the national title, while South Carolina women's basketball had the sixth best (+1100).

The NFL-MLB-NBA trifecta didn't hurt sportsbooks too much. Despite being the favorites, the Chiefs and Dodgers didn't garner most of the handle in championship markets. More money was wagered on the Ravens and 49ers than the Chiefs, and the Phillies attracted more money than the Dodgers.

However, the Celtics did lure in bettors with a leading 18% of the handle. For the Masters, Scheffler dominated the market with more than a quarter of the handle.

Scandals

Within months of replacing David Stern as NBA commissioner in 2014, Adam Silver penned a New York Times op-ed advocating for the legalization of sports betting. Less than five years later, the Supreme Court allowed states to legalize it. Since then, 38 states have done so.

That opened the floodgates for leagues and organizations to partner with sports betting companies. While Silver's early initiative and somewhat controversial (at the time) outlook on sports betting has paid dividends for the NBA, major controversy struck the league a decade later.

The NBA dealt with just one of the many betting scandals that shook the sports world in 2024.

Jontay Porter

In March, the NBA investigated Raptors forward Jontay Porter for placing prop bets on himself. Porter, in coordination with outside partners, placed wagers on certain props of his to go under their betting line. He removed himself from those games early because of injury, meaning the wagers won.

The NBA banned Porter for life, referring to his actions as its "cardinal sin." He was later arrested and pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. It was the first major NBA betting scandal since referee Tim Donaghy conspired to fix games in 2007 and the first since the legalization of sports betting. NBA players are prohibited from betting on basketball.

Porter had more incentive to rig bets for cash because he was on a less lucrative non-guaranteed two-way contract. Before this season, major sportsbooks announced they would no longer offer prop bets for players on two-way or 10-day deals.

The NBA has since doubled down on its betting partnerships, proclaiming the Porter case provides an example of the consequences for bad apples.

Temple men's basketball

College athletes can now make money off their likeness, but they still don't make the cash that most professionals do. So, people or organizations with bad intentions can influence impressionable young athletes.

Last winter, watchdog agencies flagged multiple Temple men's basketball games for unusual and suspicious betting activity. In one contest between Temple and UAB, the latter team opened as a 2-point favorite before the spread soared to eight points, a highly uncommon shift. There was unusual betting activity on UAB, which won by 28 points.

An FBI investigation ensued, leading to former Temple guard Hysier Miller being dismissed from Virginia Tech shortly after transferring during the offseason. Whether Miller was point-shaving, throwing games, or providing outsiders with inside intel has yet to be disclosed.

NCAA president Charlie Baker called for a ban on college prop bets earlier this year, although this case didn't involve prop bets. This wasn't the first college betting scandal and it likely won't be the last. Even with NIL, college kids are likely to be targeted by nefarious groups.

The legalization of sports betting should make it easier to flag shady activity because most transactions are done through regulated betting companies.

Shohei Ohtani's interpreter

Numerous baseball players were suspended and one was even banned for betting on baseball this year, but the biggest scandal centered around the MLB's brightest star, Shohei Ohtani.

More than $4.5 million in wire transfers were sent from Ohtani's bank account to an underground bookmaking operation under federal investigation. Many people immediately assumed Ohtahi bet on baseball because the transfer came from his account and because of inconsistencies in his subsequent statements.

As it turned out, Ohtani's interpreter stole over $16 million from Ohtani. The interpreter allegedly lost tens of millions of dollars and stole to cover his gambling debts. He pleaded guilty to tax fraud and bank fraud this summer. Ohtani went on to win the National League MVP and a World Series in his first season with the Dodgers following this early-season scandal.

Biggest upsets

All three of the biggest moneyline upsets of the year in professional sports came from the NBA. On the second day of the new year, a Hornets team that was 16 games below .500 and missing LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller defeated the fully healthy Kings. Charlotte had lost 11 straight, and Sacramento was a 15.5-point home favorite but lost outright.

The Hornets' win tied for the eighth-largest point spread upset in the last 30 years. (The biggest upset came in 2023 when the Blazers beat the Timberwolves as 19.5-point underdogs.)

In the final weeks of the 2023-24 regular season, the Raptors headed to Milwaukee nearly 30 games under .500 and on a 15-game losing streak. The Bucks were without Giannis Antetokounmpo but were still 14.5-point home favorites. Despite Damian Lillard's 36 points, Toronto pulled off the year's second-biggest upset (based on spread).

Northern Illinois' win over Notre Dame as a +3000 underdog was college football's biggest upset this year. On the hardwood, Charleston Southern was +4000 to defeat Miami just last month; Charleston Southern stunned the Canes on their home floor to claim the upset of the year.

Bad beat of the year

Every bettor has experienced the brutal, stomach-turning feeling of a winner turning into a loser in a game's final moments.

There was no shortage of bad beats in 2024. It's hard to narrow the list, but we tried to find the worst individual game and season-long beat of the calendar year. (My personal experiences might have impacted this decision).

Boise State @ San Jose State (+14.5) (Nov. 16, 2024)

San Jose State blew a 14-0 lead in the second quarter and a 21-14 lead in the third quarter to trail by 14 with under two minutes remaining against Boise State. But San Jose State had the ball and was covering the 14.5-point spread ... until it wasn't.

San Jose State threw a pick-6 with less than two minutes to play, then failed to convert three goal-to-go opportunities in the final minute, blowing what looked like a certain cover for San Jose State backers. Words don't do it justice. Watch it for yourself as Scott Van Pelt breaks down one of the worst beats of the year (depending on if you bet it).

Season-long bad beat: David Montgomery over 775.5 rushing yards

David Montgomery's rushing prop total seemed like a lock to go over the preseason total of 775.5.

He was having a productive season splitting the backfield with Jahmyr Gibbs. Montgomery accumulated 771 rushing yards with four weeks remaining in the regular season. In Week 15, Montgomery had just 4 yards before he suffered an MCL injury that knocked him out for the rest of the regular season.

The Lions running back finished the season with 775 rushing yards, one shy of hitting his total. Roughly 95% of the money wagered on Montgomery was to go over 775.5 yards and 66% of bets were on the over, a devastating blow for Montgomery backers.

Most bet events

Football is king. Four of the five most bet events of the year were NFL playoff games. The Super Bowl takes the crown as the most bet event, as it does for every sportsbook annually.

However, this list puts into perspective how popular the Masters is as a viewing and betting experience. March Madness is a massive event for sportsbooks, but the 67-game slate means betting impact isn't best quantified with one contest.

Most bet teams

Most profitable teams

The most bet teams and most profitable teams aren't always aligned, but the Chiefs were a cover machine on their way to a second straight Super Bowl victory.

Unsurprisingly, big-market teams garnered more bets across all sports because of their expanded fan bases and national exposure. However, the best teams in the NBA and MLB weren't the most profitable despite bettors wagering heavily on them.

Michigan football's title run in January placed the Wolverines among the most profitable teams. NC State's improbable March Madness run earned it a spot on the list.

NC State won five games in five days to win the ACC tournament and qualify for the Big Dance. It then won four straight tournament games as an underdog to earn a trip to the Final Four. The Wolfpack became the fifth-largest underdogs to make the Final Four since 2010.

What's ahead in 2025?

Sportsbooks are hoping neither the Lions nor Chiefs are crowned Super Bowl champions Feb. 9, as the two teams have accounted for a combined 35% of the handle and over 30% of the tickets on the Super Bowl market. The Chiefs and Lions are the favorites to win their respective conferences and meet in the Big Game in New Orleans.

The college football national champion will be crowned in January. If Ohio State wins, it would be a blow to sportsbooks and a win for bettors. A quarter of the handle and bets are on the Buckeyes. Georgia has attracted the second-most action with 17% of the bets and the handle.

Later in the year, UConn will be the second team to go for a three-peat. The Huskies would be the biggest liability to sportsbooks with 15% of the handle on UConn to cut down the nets. Duke has received the most bets.

The Celtics could become the first repeat NBA champions since the 2018 Warriors. Although they have the third-best record, they're still the league's best team, leading to waves of bettors wagering on Boston at the short price of +200 to host another duck parade. The Celtics have accounted for 35% of bets and nearly 29% of the handle. By the time the NBA Finals conclude in June, we'll know if favoring favorites worked for a second straight year.

Sam Oshtry is a sports betting writer at theScore. You can follow him on X @soshtry for more betting coverage.